9ah wrote:Haha! Thanks for the move Trilo.
All interesting points. Maybe paying over $250 for some folks (my number is very fake and very a lot lower than the actual cost).... The end user still has to go shopping for things they need and there is no guarantee on the items you are renting. Once on playa you can't prove that these rental items weren't faulty and you get charged. You can rent a bike for much less and get it on playa or ship your own bike there if you have container service.
Yeah, but it's a
container service. That requires a huge amount of dedication that many people don't care for. You live in NYC, and are probably looking at the cost of
this by-the-foot shipping container service where you can store a bit of stuff and pick it up when you arrive. However, for most people who want a container, and aren't living out near NYC or have access to similar services, they end up having to front
purchase their own container for $3,300 and pay $800/year for storage and delivery. Each year they have to coordinate with the BRC storage service to have the thing delivered each year to the plot of land including all the camp plans, etc.
That's great if you have a camp that will be there every year, and the same people coordinating the operations, but for many camps it just doesn't make sense. First, you need to have a lot of gear to actually store in the container. Then you have to haul in all that shit
anyway just to get it stored up. Then you have to force everyone -- who might not always be there each year -- to pony up some cash for paying for the thing. In my own camp, the dues went up about $20 more a person to cover the costs. Not bad, but that was only because we had a lot of people. For people who aren't planning on making this trip a year-after-year ordeal, and small camps, it's much easier to just eat the cost of buying or renting shit each time and having all that extra flexibility.
Hell, I certainly wouldn't leave my bike in the container of our camp because I may not be at that camp every year, or that particular camp that year. I probably wouldn't want some dusty old crappy bike taking up room in some outdoor closet either. So what to do? Find some friend to leave it (I was that friend for a while)? Buy the bike and then sell it? Buy it and "donate" it on the playa?
It's kind of like renting skis for going to the slope. If you're only going once or twice per season it's not worth buying skis at any price, only to have to store them somewhere in your house for 95% of the year.
No need to go to Walmart to buy a bike rack for the bikes you are renting. Can't find one, SOL.
Or just buy the rack, but not the bikes. Also the cost of the rental may help you "reserve" the bike so someone else doesn't take it. Still, there are usually services that will reserve the bike too. Plus, if you're renting a vehicle, you might be preventing damage from occurring by driving with all those bikes on the vehicle the majority of the way.
I get it, people want to pay for convenience, but you still need to find someone that will schlep you, your 10 or so gallons of water, bike, luggage and this stuff to the playa.
Depends on the situation. From just reading what people have in mind on this forum there are people from all different places and means. Not all of them are going to have access to heavy transportation services, cars, camping gear, shade, or much else beyond the essentials. Then there are others with the flexibility to bring in whatever they need. The one thing that you can rely on is that if you have enough money, you can get things done, and for a trip that is only once a year it costs people less to just pay up front than spend time the remainder of the year.
I use some of the stuff from my BM gear for other things, in addition to the fact that I wash my bedding and clothing between burns.... Don't most of you clean some of that stuff?
I'm sure many people clean their clothing and bedding, but what about stuff you can't just throw into a washing machine like your bike? Or your shade structure? Or your tent? A hose full of water isn't going to remove all that dust. Stuff like monkey huts have virtually no use outside of Burning Man too, and yet they take up huge amounts of space. What about that dusty furry bike caked with mud and broken lights? I usually just leave it somewhere in the back yard because I don't want to touch it until I'm back at BM.
Maybe if someone was building these packs to SELL to burners and offering them a 50% off return in good condition so that in subsequent years other burners could buy at a discounted price (like a thrift store if you will) I'd be more apt to supporting this. This is totally not the case.
Or maybe you're just being a miser? You could do a lot of things to save money or derive greater value, or doing things yourself. But is it worth your time? Is the money you save more important than what you would gain spending it?'
Someone could balk at the price of a rental bike and just go to BM without one. Will that person be wishing he/she had that bike -- at any price short of stealing one -- to be able to accompany friends on bike romps? Is it worth the sacrifice of other people having to wait for the cheapskate bikeless burgin all the time?
Don't spoil the soup by using one cheap ingredient. There are more important things than penny pinching.
Deep breaths... A few weeks back, I got an unsolicited email from someone whom I don't think has posted anything on the boards, and it not likely to anytime soon, who wanted to know some details about the accommodations. When I explained they were whatever you choose to bring, they replied to explain that they were an artist, and wanted to know what kind of accommodations Burning Man would be giving them. Wow. Needless to say, when I explained that artists and performers are responsible for their own tickets, travel arrangements, transport, and accommodations, they lost interest pretty quickly. At least that's what I'm guessing, but who knows - maybe I haven't heard back because they're busily reading the Survival Guide and First Timer's Guide 
